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Former Ecuador International Mario Pineida, 33, Shot Dead in Guayaquil

Authorities assigned a special police unit to investigate, reflecting Guayaquil's worsening organized-crime violence.

Overview

  • Barcelona SC confirmed Pineida’s death and Ecuador’s Interior Ministry said a special unit is handling the case.
  • Police and local media report two gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on Pineida, his mother and another woman in the Samanes area in daylight.
  • Officers cordoned off the scene after the attackers fled, and searches for suspects are underway.
  • Pineida’s mother sustained a head wound but survived and is not in life-threatening condition, according to police reports.
  • Accounts differ on the identity and fate of the second woman, while the killing fits a pattern of recent attacks on footballers as Guayaquil logged about 1,900 murders from January to September 2025.